Salsa Cycles Fargo Page

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

I have seen a few things recently that have made me stop to consider the future of endurance racing. This is a segment, as you might already know, that is swelling with numbers. More people getting involved in more races. More offshoots of the "traditional" format of the 24 hour event. More ultra-endurance events. More grassroots type events.

Then there is the questions concerning recognition of champions, governing bodies and rules for events and series. What will happen when the events get under the control of a larger sanctioning body? Will that kill the events? Will it make them even more popular?

These are the sorts of things I want to probe in the next few posts. I feel that the endurance community is going to see some major changes in the near term concerning sanctioning. Traditional governing bodies versus new ones. Grassroots, underground events versus mainstream, big dollar events. What will shake out? How will it affect the average off road enthusiast? Do athletes want or need national or international recognition? How will that look? Is it even a desirable thing, or is just finishing an event satisfying in and of itself.

Lots of questions on lots of different levels! As always, you the reader of these posts are welcome to give your input. Please post your ideas in the comment section! I look forward to seeing ideas, and discussing them on this forum. The focus is pretty broad right now, but I feel that I will be able to do justice to it. I am a promoter myself of a grassroots, undergroundtype of an event, along with Jeff Kerkove, who is also an event participant in some of the biggest races internationally. I will have to ask him a few questions regarding this subject! I also have Carl Buchanan as a resource who is a newer endurance racer. It might be interesting to get his perspective on things from his viewpoint, as well.

So, hang on for a long and bumpy ride into the endurance racing scene! I hope that this will prove to be an interesting, if not exhausting ride!